Finesse
by Kiesan013
Summary: Robotnik has returned to Robotropolis. Sonic and a few other rebels leave Knothole for the winter, and Shadow is sent to guard the village. An overstressed Princess Sally doesn't trust him - will he truly protect the rebels' home? Shadow/Sally. OLDish


**_Finesse  
_**A Shadow/Sally fanfiction by Kie.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails, Sally, Shadow, or any of the other characters. Sonic is © SEGA.

* * *

It hadn't taken Sally long to come to grips with the fact that, well, he'd moved on rather quickly. It was his nature, after all—just as it was her nature to be adaptive.

And there was a part of her who had always liked Amy Rose. Immature? Most certainly. Infantile, even. Silly? It was the basis of her existence to be so. But she did care, and she was supportive, and she maintained a lighter heart than Sally was capable of bearing anymore.

Sally hadn't expected that Sonic would be able to tolerate her workaholic nature through very hard times, the way she had to cope. When something went wrong, her only strategy was to hole up in her room and strategize. She couldn't vent to any of the other Freedom Fighters. Despite the fact that she was, indeed, very close with Bunnie, there were times in which her simplistic mindset couldn't take in Sally's hardships.

So, she worked. She left her hut only to eat and shower. Her friends did not see her face until, eventually, she had calmed down enough to step outside and recollect herself.

The problems had stacked up this season. There was a region-wide food shortage, and this winter promised to be a monster. Rotor's progress in reversing Robotnik's technologies had come to a standstill, so there could be no salvaging of Robotropolis junk this year. Despite its minimal activity, Robotropolis's pollution still affected Knothole, meaning that the damage caused by Robotnik's overuse of dirty fuels could be permanent. Sonic, Tails, Amy and Rotor had gone north for the winter to help a small village rebuild after it had been destroyed by arson, leaving Knothole's defense at a low. Five huts needed caulking to keep them safe and warm for the winter, and there was no more caulk.

Those problems were all at the minor end of the spectrum. At the major end, there was the fact that Robotnik was returning to his throne in Robotropolis, after leaving it in the hands of his less-capable robot slaves for two years. He had new technology and new capabilities—and this time, he was going to find Knothole.

With all of the above swimming around in her restless brain, Sally stepped out of her hut and into the morning sunlight. The cold soil crunched under her boots as she made her way to the edge of the village, by the ring pond. She rubbed her arms, her fur standing up—it was already colder than usual, a sure precursor of the impending winter.

The water of the ring pond was still. There was no wind today.

Sally sighed, and turned to look around Knothole. There were a few Mobians working—a small group of three or four repaired the roof of a hut, and another pair watered the village's small vegetable garden. The princess wandered over to this pair, greeting them, and looked over the meager crops. The growing season had been so short this year—yet another decision she would have to make within the next few days would be whether to harvest early, before the first frost could kill some of the crops, or to take a chance and give the vegetables longer to grow. Sally's ears flattened back against her head. She just couldn't do anything today without running into problems.

After asking around, and finding that no one wanted or needed her help, she had entered the community hut to make herself lunch. She stepped outside once more now, carrying her lunch with her, and went to sit on the makeshift bench by the tree line to eat.

As she nibbled at the last of her salad, she heard the quiet rustle of leaves behind her. Her ears pricked up, remembering the still water at the pond. She was very still for a moment, listening, and then sprang from the bench and whirled to face the tree line.

"What do you want?" she snapped at the svelte, black-and-red hedgehog standing in the partial shadow of the tree line.

Shadow raised his eyebrows politely. "Pardon me," he said quietly, dropping a small, black duffel-style bag at his feet, "but I was sent here on the presumption that Knothole was lacking in defense. Perhaps I was mistaken." He quirked one eyebrow at Sally's battle-ready stance.

Sally, flustered, straightened up and brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes. "Y-you were sent? By who?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. "None other than your favorite blue highspeed ass-hat. He apparently has new interests nowadays, I see."

The princess's mouth straightened into a hard line, and she regained her formal composure. "Sonic sent you? I'll be making sure of that," she replied stiffly.

Shadow stood there for twenty minutes as Sally called Sonic—it took seven minutes for her communicator to find a signal decent enough to carry out the call. He was amused by her uptight personality. If he had been here to harm them, it would have been far too late by now. Surely Sally knew that, with her experience around the Hedgehog.

The squirrel tucked her com away in her vest pocket as soon as she was finished. She turned to Shadow again, still wary. "I'll show you to your...amenities." She smirked grimly and led him to an empty hut.

It was tiny, much like the other huts. There were a few stray, dry leaves in the middle of the floor. The bed was just a wooden frame, and there were no blankets, or even a rug. A bureau stood beside the bedframe. Aside from that, the only thing in the room was a lone broom leaning against the western wall, by a window. A spiderweb hung from the corner nearest it, wobbling from a draft coming through the uneven windowpanes.

"You'll be issued bed linens and some further luxuries," Sally explained. "You'll have to come to the community hut and get them for yourself."

Without another word she exited, and Shadow was left to chuckle darkly to himself at her frustration.

* * *

Sally had never seen Shadow for herself. She'd listened to Sonic's descriptions of him, and seen the blurry black-and-white photographs in the mail marking him as the robber of a large bank in the city. But she was quite certain that he could be dangerous, and surely had an ulterior motive for coming to help them. She intended to keep a close watch on him.

Later that night, Bunnie and Sally sat on top of the roof of the community hut, watching Shadow's quarters. It looked as if he was inside right now—a dim light came from the window.

Bunnie frowned. "Sally, Ah knows you're concerned 'n all that, but...ain't this a little...unnecessary?"

Sally just narrowed her eyes, not looking up. "No, Bunnie. I don't know anything about him—except for the fact that _he worked with Dr. Robotnik_. I'm taking every precaution I can."

Bunnie sighed and propped her chin up with her hand.

At that moment, Shadow's door opened, and they saw him step outside. Sally's ears pricked up. He had something in his hand—it was small and definitely mechanical. The princess's suspicions augmented.

"There!" she hissed, jabbing an accusing finger in his direction. Bunnie looked up, a bit bleary, and saw Shadow pulling a pair of headphones on, and doing something to the small mechanical device. He plugged the headphones into the device, and it lit up with a faint bluish-green light.

Bunnie heard a _thump_, and looked over to where Sally had been next to her—she had disappeared. Bunnie blinked and looked down at the ground, where Sally had landed on her feet. "Sally-girl? Where you goin' off to?"

Sally was already making her way to the edge of the building's shadow. "I'm going to stop him from doing whatever he's doing, that's what." Bunnie just frowned a bit.

Shadow had turned to the pond's edge, and wasn't looking in Sally's direction. She swiftly tiptoed up and raised a hand to snatch the headphones off of Shadow's head—

—when he turned suddenly.

She froze in place.

Shadow slowly removed the headphones from his head. "Is there a problem?" he asked, pronouncing each syllable slowly.

Sally's wide eyes were unblinking. She let her hand drop, and stared at the charcoal hedgehog dumbly. He raised an eyebrow.

It took the princess a moment to recover herself and notice that Shadow was still holding the gadget he'd been spotted with. She finally blinked, and pointed to what she thought was a radio signal transmitter accusingly.

"That! What are you doing with it?"

Shadow looked from Sally to the little device, and back. "I was listening to it," he stated in that same slow voice, apparently under the impression that the princess was incompetent. Sally's eyes narrowed again, having regained some of her composure.

"And who exactly were you listening _to_?"

Shadow's face took on the amused expression of earlier. "I doubt someone such as yourself has heard of them."

The princess's courage peaked, and she fearlessly yanked the device from out of the hedgehog's large hand. "We'll see about that," she muttered as she examined the device, and found that pressing one of the small buttons on the side lit up the little LCD screen with its blue-green glow. The text on the screen read:

_SUGARCULT – HATE EVERY BEAUTIFUL DAY_  
2:27 / 3:45

Sally puzzled over the text. Was it some sort of code?

She put the headphones on, and frowned in confusion.

And then her eyes bulged slightly.

He was listening to _music_. It was simply _music_.

She was so very dense at times.

He was still looking at her oddly as she dully handed back the device and headphones.

"Th-that's fine. I'm sorry to have disturbed you." She trudged back to her hut before she could embarrass herself further. He watched her leave. Then, he sighed and slid the headphones back over his ears.

* * *

The next morning was colder than yesterday's. On the southwestern horizon, a front loomed—it was sure to move in by the next day. So much for prolonging the growing season.

The princess prodded at her bagel with a pinky finger, resting her head on her other hand. She sat outside the community hut with her meager breakfast, not fully awake. Across from her, Bunnie was sipping a cup of coffee and watching the villagers begin the season's early harvest.

"Shame, ain't it?" Bunnie remarked.

Sally looked at her friend blearily. "Huh?"

"The crops."

"Oh. Yeah."

Bunnie frowned a little. "You got enough sleep, Sal?"

Sally rubbed her forehead. "It doesn't matter."

The rabbit sighed and rose, back into the community hut to help with the morning chores. Sally was left alone, and she went back to her breakfast with winter melancholy on her shoulders.

Her mind soon wandered to the somber stranger now housed in their quaint village—she hadn't seen Shadow yet this morning, yet he seemed the type to be early to rise. Maybe he was like Sonic, and he took a "morning run" to loosen up? Something in her mind chastised her for comparing the two hedgehogs in that manner. Shadow couldn't be as hyperactive as Sonic in that respect. He was too mature for such things. It seemed that Sally's respect for the man in black continued to deepen as he stayed in the village.

After musing in such a way for a few minutes, she finally realized that she was finished eating, and so went to assist in the harvest at the closest vegetable patch.

The work was slow and rhythmic, and was unfortunately the type of labor that did not engage the mind, but the hands only. Half an hour into the harvest, she tuned out the quiet outside world to return to her thoughts, which strayed to Shadow too often for her to be comfortable. She wondered why she had taken to him like this.

At first she suspected that it was because she had so embarrassed herself before him when he had first come, and that she willed herself subconsciously to redeem herself as more than an overstressed girl who was too wary around unknown variables, such as himself. Sally was, by nature, composed and thoughtful, but their initial encounter had left much to be desired. She wanted to leave on him a good impression of Knothole and its people, and its leader's behavior was an essential element.

She thought this over for a while, and decided that, while redemption was perhaps a part of her interest in Shadow, there was probably more. He was so opposite of her loved ones—he was soft-spoken but intense, thoughtful and strategic. From that description, he sounded much like Sally's mental image of herself. Maybe they just had that much in common? From Sonic's original tales of the hedgehog, he came across as unyielding and vicious, and that was Sally's expectation—so far, though, she had seen only undertones of such behaviors in him. He actually seemed like quite the gentleman, and that had always left a good impression with the princess from her upbringing.

That, certainly, was the case. For so long, Sally had been in the company of comparatively unsophisticated people—she wasn't putting her friends down, but at times they were so simple. Shadow was like a breath of fresh air.

Upon coming to this conclusion, the harvest of the vegetable patch came to an end. That was peculiar—it was usually such a tedious task, but the time had flown by. She moved on to the next group needing help, and continued in this way until late afternoon, taking breaks only for water.

In spite of the unhappy season this year, the night brought the annual harvest supper. A bonfire was made and a good portion of the fresh food was cooked. The villagers were able to eat as they pleased for this yearly respite, and spirits were lifted considerably to combat the winter blues sure to come. The fire illuminated the great oaks surrounding the village, and Sally cheered up along with the rest of the villagers—the jubilation was contagious.

The princess was just about to join Bunnie to eat when a hand came to rest on her shoulder. She looked up at its owner, expecting the brown or green eyes of a villagers, and was startled to see burning crimson irises starting back at her, reflecting within them the glow of the bonfire. Her heart spluttered.

"C-can I help you with something?" she managed to squeak.

"I'm sorry," purred Shadow's bass. "I didn't intend to startle you...may I speak to you for a moment, or are you busy?"

"I guess so," she answered, turning and following him.

They stepped over by the tree line.

"I hope you'll forgive my rudeness, but I have to say this now," he murmured.

"I'm listening." The impatience was only a façade—she had been caught off-guard again and didn't want it to show, so she covered it up.

"I wanted to apologize."

Silence.

"Pardon me?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you were listening."

"I heard you, but...f-for what?"

"For underestimating you. Profoundly."

She didn't know what to say in reply, so she kept quiet.

"It took me until today to see what kind of a village you've established here...and also to see that you're indubitably of the Acorn blood, to be such a leader in such miserable times. From your proximity to the hedgehog, I automatically assumed that you were just a persistent child, like him. I see better now, princess."

Sally immediately cast away his insult of Sonic, because, well, she had to agree. The princess was rather stunned by this eloquent speech of his—she had taken him for a man of few words.

"Thank you, Shadow." It took her a few seconds' struggle to muster even that much vocabulary.

"Don't thank me yet."

"What?"

"I wasn't done. There's something else I have to tell you.

"Sonic contacted me. Up north, where winter has already moved in, the village where he, Miles, and the others are staying has been damaged by an early blizzard. Apparently they will be staying well into spring, and I've been asked to remain here..."

"Oh. Well, I guess there's nothing we can do, then. Are you sure you want to stay into spring, though? We can handle ourselves after winter's over."

"I'd much rather stay as long as I'm needed. The idea of you, here, unguarded, is...quite unsettling."

The princess was again unsure of how to respond—she wasn't sure if that was an insult or just him being overprotective.

"Can I thank you now, then?"

"If you feel it's necessary."

The corners of her mouth turned up in a half-smile. "Thank you, Shadow. On behalf of all of Knothole, I appreciate what you're doing for us."

The quintessence of old-fashioned sophistication, he bent and kissed her hand. "Anything for you, princess."

* * *

Sally decided against eating with Bunnie, and decided instead to remain with Shadow. Seated by the ring pond, Sally's ego inflated by the fact that she was able to keep Shadow talking.

Sitting there with him relieved some of her stress. He was passive and didn't press her for conversation—she was comfortable in the silence.

The breeze was cool, and stirred some of the leaves. Sally watched as one fell onto the lake, reflecting in the clear glass-like water. Distracted by the image, she reached up to brush her hair away from her eyes and felt his smooth ebony fur against her arm—she had accidentally rubbed him with him. She was suddenly warm, despite the chilly breeze—had she been this close to him a minute ago?

He finally looked up then, his smoldering scarlet eyes within a few inches of hers. Shadow didn't seem perturbed by their proximity to one another—had he done it on purpose? And it seemed he grew closer yet...

Out of nowhere, the alarm bell sounded off. Sally jumped and somehow ended up pressed to Shadow's chest. Maybe he had been startled. Or maybe she had gotten spooked and clung to him instinctively. It didn't matter. Before she had time to process this, he was on his feet and walking her to the community hut.

Bunnie intercepted the two at the door. "Sally-girl! Robotnik's on the move with a grid-searchin' party! He got all the bells 'n whistles too—we ain't got a chance, honey, we gotta git!"

It took a minute for Sally to comprehend this. "We're...leaving...Knothole?"

Bunnie only nodded.

Though distraught, it took only a few seconds longer for her tactical instincts to kick in.

"We'll have to split up—get a group and scatter. In a while, we'll meet up again after the coast is clear...rebuild...start over." It was a sorrowful resolution, but they all knew it was best.

Sally supervised as the residents grouped up and made plans—relatives they could stay with, places they could go, jobs they could secure. The sky turned dark and darker still as the people worked, gathering what supplies they could.

As the last of the villagers left, Sally finally realized that she had nowhere to go—as a princess, her face was well-known worldwide, and she would surely draw attention wherever she went. Perhaps there was some small rural town she could flee to...

She was suddenly aware of another presence in the hut. Sally quickly glanced at the door.

It was Shadow. He didn't come in any further, but rather stayed at the door.

Sally perked up a minuscule amount. "Shadow," she acknowledged, "you haven't left yet?"

"It would be dishonorable for me to leave you in such a way," he said quietly. "I was sent to guard this village..and in lieu of that, I will instead look out for you, princess."

Sally bristled slightly. "I don't need an entourage. I can take care of myself."

"I can see that," he replied unblinkingly. "Regardless, allow me to fulfill my duties. I will see to it that you are taken to a safe refuge."

The princess still didn't trust him, and it was visible. "I don't know..."

"Humor me." He offered a hand.

With a moment's deliberation, she sighed and took it. After all, could it get any worse from here?

Shadow gathered his belongings in the duffel-bag he had come with as Sally waited politely outside his hut. She had only a small satchel of clothing and personal belongings, which she carried in her arms.

The coal-hued hedgehog closed the door of his cabin. He glanced at her bag.

"Let me carry that for you."

"I'm not incompetent, you know." She was being slightly defensive, but he was being overly helpful.

"I didn't imply anything of the sort, my princess." As before, the words rolled off of his tongue smoothly and without pause. "Reasonably, though, I have room here for your things—" He gestured to his duffel-bag. "—and an extra three pounds is a trifle. Please, don't make this hard on yourself purposefully."

She groaned. "I give up." She handed him the satchel, and he tucked it into his bag.

"Thank you." There was a hint of a smirk at the edges of his mouth.

Leaving the village, Princess Sally took one last look back at the village she doubted she would see again. There was an ache in her gut as she watched it recede—she had watched as this village was built from the earth and stones and trees of the forest, and like herself, it had grown over the years.

Her home fading into the distance, she walked beside him. She willed herself not to look back now.

Shadow seemed to sense her sorrow, but he said nothing.

They continued to walk. Sally's distraction coping strategy kicked in. "Where are we going, anyway?"

He was hesitant now—though the princess didn't notice. "...somewhere we'll not be found."

* * *

The stars were sharp on the black curtain, through the windows. It was cold and dark and the air tasted odd—it was very dusty, also. She could see the forest from here—or, she could have, were she not trying to recover from the Chaos Control travel.

She pushed her hair out of her eyes, which showed fatigue and more than a little wooziness. Her fingers, she was vaguely aware, were damp with sweat. She was light-headed and felt like she might just faint; she clutched the windowsill as if for dear life. Black spots burned into her eyes; she couldn't even tell where she was.

Shadow re-entered the room. He knelt next to her. "Here," he said, handing her something. "Drink it. Your body is responding badly to the teleport; this will get your blood sugar up, and hopefully it will help."

She grasped unfruitfully at whatever he was offering her; he stayed her hand and pressed what felt like a plastic bottle into it, and her fingers curled around it. Eventually it found its way to her mouth, and it was sweet—some sort of juice. She managed to swallow about half of it by the time her vision cleared up.

Still weak, she slumped further to the floor. The sweat was now cold, cooled by the surroundings. Shadow insisted that she finish the bottle of whatever it was, and she was stable by the time she had.

"What is this place?" she finally asked.

He replied even more somberly than usual. "ARK. I didn't want to be here, but I had to...it was the safest place for you, princess."

She was sympathetic then, and her respect for him hit an irrevocable high. But she didn't pry—instead, she piped up again with another question.

"Why won't you call me by my first name?"

"It would be rude and forward of me," he responded dutifully.

"But this isn't the palace, Shadow. I'm just Sally here."

This seemed to catch him off-guard. "Princess, I must be unaware if things are different now. When I was brought up, the House of Acorn was still esteemed and respected—and as such, its people were rightfully treated the same. A princess remains a princess at heart, no matter the setting.

Sally was touched by his display of loyalty. "Well...I appreciate that, Shadow, honestly I do. But considering the circumstances, I'd really prefer just Sally."

Shadow frowned at her. "Perhaps. But for now, I insist."

She sighed, vexed. He ignored her in this respect. "Are you tired?"

"I could sleep."

"I'll show you to your room."

Sally decided that she should acquire maps of this place if they were to be here long, because the vast, dark hallways and innumerable turns were unnavigable to her. Her sable companion, on the other hand, was completely at ease in the murkiness.

He approached a door and it slid open. Inside the furniture was stainless steel, and all fabrics were sterile white. It wasn't as dusty in here as in the first room they were in. Here, however, there were no windows—just metal walls.

"It's quite drab, but it's all there is."

Sally saw her little satchel-bag on the bed—Shadow had already brought her things in.

"Thank you, Shadow."

"It isn't worth thanks."

"I never took you for a modest one."

"Good night, princess."

* * *

Considering the fact that she was in an orbiting space colony miles above her home about which she had only ever heard horror stories, she slept well that night. Her mind once again wandered—she had been so out-of-it lately, what was wrong with her?—as she fell asleep. She wondered who had slept in this bed, and how long ago it had been. She wondered what had become of them by now. Then she had thought about the ARK incident, and wondered how much of what she knew was true—she wondered if she would ever know Shadow well enough to ask him about it. Of course, he probably would never volunteer, and she didn't know if she wanted to upset him by prying. Maybe in a few years... 'Oh, go to sleep, Sally, you're hallucinating. Like you'll know him for that long.'

Here she dozed off.

When at first she awoke from her slumber to the sound of gunshots, she thought it was just an extension of her overcurious mind, and she scolded herself, told herself to go back to sleep. But it persisted—wait, those really were gunshots. What was going on? Wasn't it just the two of them, Shadow and herself?

She sat up, and looked through the little rectangle of glass in the door—there were red lights somewhere off in the hallway. They were dim, but were growing brighter. After a moment's deliberation, she resolved to go next door and see if Shadow was still there.

Sally reached to undo the electric lock to allow the door to open, when something sparked and it slid open of its own accord. She gasped and was cast into the shadow of someone huge, someone who was pointing the muzzle of a gun into her face.

"Well played, Princess," growled the voice of Dr. Robotnik.

* * *

It was dark in the old, rusty prison hall. Somewhere, there was water dripping, and it echoed through the chamber eerily.

Shadow made little noise as he paced down the hall, examining each empty cell. The steel handcuffs around his wrists, easily broken by an underestimated Shadow, clinked quietly against the power rings that served as bracelets around his wrists. He feared not the noises around the corners, the constant lurking predators of Robotropolis. Nor did he harbor fear of capture—though Robotnik had apparently failed to realize it, Shadow could overpower his entire pet city without breaking a sweat.

He wasn't afraid. Instead, he was filled with dread in fear's place—dreading what she would say, dreading what he knew would inevitably come to pass. At the same time, he knew he justly deserved what was coming, and more yet.

The rain started then, that had been looming on the horizon yesterday day he had sat with her by the ring pond. Now she was trapped in one of these dank, musty cells. He just had to find which it was...

Water splashed in a puddle on the floor as he stepped in it. In the cell to his right, a sudden rustling sound met his ears—the sound of clothing's movement, only barely audible to his acute hearing. He glanced in the sound's direction.

Near the corner of the cell she sat. The bluish-greenness of the prison hall reflected against her, causing her eyes to shine.

She looked at him dully.

He approached the tarnished bars of the cell, and easily wrenched the archaic lock off. Slowly he paced back to where she was huddled, and offered a white-gloved hand—the fabric all but glowed in the dimness.

Sally turned away. "I'll never trust you again."

He withdrew his hand and crouched, now at her level. "I don't expect you to."

"Then what do you want?"

"I intended to help you escape."

"You're working with _them_."

"I was."

"You're lying."

"If that's what you want to believe.

"When I took you aboard the ARK, I was deliberating. There was a reward for me, if I aided in your capture. Halfway through...you had impacted me. I wasn't elaborating in what I told you yesterday at Knothole. I just decided too late."

Her eyes were bitter. "I hope you got what you wanted."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Sally didn't respond. Shadow was also quiet, but he refused to leave.

It took a few minutes of silence for her to ask. "...what's become of Knothole?"

There was a dull pain in his chest as he replied. "It's been burned to the ground."

She was quiet for a minute more, then turned to face him again. He could see moisture welling up in her eyes. "I guess if you were lying, you wouldn't tell me that."

"I'm sorry, princess."

"Will you help me?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I want to kill him."

He was somber as he replied. "If anything at all, I know that revenge is not fruitful. At least not now." He sat next to her—this floor was _cold_, how was she tolerating it?—and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. "Rebuild Knothole. Then strike him when he least expects, after you've assimilated an army again."

"It took so long to grow." It was almost a groan.

"It will be better this time."

She hid her face in her hand, but rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so tired."

He picked her up. "Hold on to me. We're leaving."

Out of experience, she instantly flung her arms around his neck tightly. He frowned and paused mid-stride. "Was he that reckless with you? Revolting. It won't be necessary for you to cut off my air supply." There was a vague undertone of humor that she detected. She loosened her choke hold.

"Thank you." And then all Sally saw was a blur around them.

* * *

It was raining hard outside. The front had warmed and the snow had turned to water, but there was sure to be ice later. From their hide-out, Sally could see the smoldering remains of Knothole. She only cried a bit, and it was camouflaged by the rain.

They were hidden in plain sight, right under Robotnik's nose. They soon would find shelter until daybreak in the woods, but for now, this would do.

"...Shadow, where'd our things go?" Sally wondered out loud.

"I have them. Don't worry, I wasn't about to leave them behind. That MP3 player cost me quite a bit," he added with a slight grimace.

She stared out at the pouring rain. "...what was your reward?"

He frowned. "...it doesn't matter anymore."

Princess Sally didn't press.

He sighed after a while of silence, and pulled out of his bag a small leather-bound notebook. "This. The reasons for my existence. Handwritten by Professor Gerald himself." He thumbed through the yellowed pages. "Before this, it was all I cared about. I just wanted to know all the details."

"...and now?" Sally asked.

"...now I have a purpose again. A worthwhile purpose," he mused, putting his arm around her again—partly because he sensed that she was probably cold, as he was himself, and partly out of instinct. "And when Sonic returns, and you no longer need me..."

He was startled by the sudden pained expression on her face. "...I don't know if we're discussing the same type of return, here," she muttered. "But he'll never come back to me. He's happy now."

"...you weren't this bitter before."

Her ears pinned back against her head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound that way. ...I haven't taken time to get over him the way he has me. We've been together for so long. I just...didn't think about it."

They listened to the rain _plink_ on the metal shelter they were under.

"...but I understand it now. He made the right move."

"...then I will protect you until you no longer want me doing so. I'll redeem myself in your eyes, and then maybe I'll have a life worth living again."

He sounded so miserable that without thought, Sally instinctively threw her arms around him in a hug. It was like she had known him for years, and she didn't realize her mistake until he patted her shoulder somewhat awkwardly. She withdrew.

"Sorry," she murmured meekly, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment.

"Don't apologize."

She scooted a few inches away from him to avoid another incident like that, and hugged her arms to herself.

"Are you cold?"

"Bit."

Stubbornly, he pulled her closer again and threw his jacket from his bag around her. It was already somewhat warm, so she pulled it up to her shoulders. It smelled like him.

"Thanks."

It warmed up fast. She became very cozy, and the sleep she had lost caught up with her. Eventually she gave up, and dozed off against Shadow.

He gazed unseeingly at the city. "I hope you forgive me one day, Sally," he sighed.

Shadow picked her up again; she didn't wake. "Let's get out of the rain, shall we?"


End file.
